What year.. 75 or 76?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 156
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From: Oakdale Ct
What year.. 75 or 76?
This sounds really dumb, but the more I learn about corvettes, the more I think my 75 is actually a 76...
The 6th digit of the VIN is a 5, which in my mind says its a 75, the engine suffix is CHA which I have traced to 1975, and the last time the car was registered (85), it was as a 75, but...
1. Its got the alloy wheels which werent an option till 76. (understand they could have been added later)
2. Its got the rediculous looking Vega wheel which was only offered in 76
3. A stamp on the inside of the door pannel reads DEC 1975... The production run of the 76's I think started in October of 75
Could the VIN number indicate it was built in 75 but was actually a 76 model year??
The 6th digit of the VIN is a 5, which in my mind says its a 75, the engine suffix is CHA which I have traced to 1975, and the last time the car was registered (85), it was as a 75, but...
1. Its got the alloy wheels which werent an option till 76. (understand they could have been added later)
2. Its got the rediculous looking Vega wheel which was only offered in 76
3. A stamp on the inside of the door pannel reads DEC 1975... The production run of the 76's I think started in October of 75
Could the VIN number indicate it was built in 75 but was actually a 76 model year??
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,606
Likes: 1
From: Las Cruces NM
You're correct in the VIN portion. 5th digit indicates year...5=1975, 6=1976, etc, until 1980, when they went to the letter convention, A=1980, B=1981......
Any of the things you mentioned are simple to change. And a lot can be changed in the 30+ years of your car's existence.
There's a chance that at one point an owner had access to a '76 and grabbed parts off of it. Who knows what he was thinking as far as the steering wheel goes...maybe he thought it looked modern at some point...
The wheels were and are a popular change folks make to these cars. And door panels wear out. He probably picked up a set from a salvage yard or something and threw them on.
For the engine, CHA = 165hp(L48) with a manual trans.
Hope this helps
Chris
Any of the things you mentioned are simple to change. And a lot can be changed in the 30+ years of your car's existence.
There's a chance that at one point an owner had access to a '76 and grabbed parts off of it. Who knows what he was thinking as far as the steering wheel goes...maybe he thought it looked modern at some point...
The wheels were and are a popular change folks make to these cars. And door panels wear out. He probably picked up a set from a salvage yard or something and threw them on.
For the engine, CHA = 165hp(L48) with a manual trans.
Hope this helps
Chris
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 38,923
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From: Southbound
Cruise-In II Veteran
Originally Posted by BigE
...The 6th digit of the VIN is a 5...
...the engine suffix is CHA which I have traced to 1975...
...Its got the alloy wheels which werent an option till 76. (understand they could have been added later)
...Its got the rediculous looking Vega wheel which was only offered in 76...A stamp on the inside of the door pannel reads DEC 1975... The production run of the 76's I think started in October of 75
Could the VIN number indicate it was built in 75 but was actually a 76 model year??
'75s had fiberglass floorboards; '76s got partial steel. What are yours?
'75s had Astro-Ventilation; '76s did not. Do you have rear deck vents?
Do you have any original documentation with the car?
Post the VIN and we'll take a look. You have to remember these cars were assembled by human beings who made mistakes. The VIN tag was stamped by a human. It's possible a 5 got typed in place of a 6, but not highly likely.
There is a documented '71 with the year character missing from the VIN tag. It reads 19367S1XXXXXX.
Last edited by Easy Mike; Oct 23, 2006 at 12:21 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 156
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From: Oakdale Ct
Thanks for the response... I didnt know about the floor boards and astro-vents....
My VIN is 1Z37J5S412882...
Engine and tranny both have the same VIN number as the body
Thats what I thought! But its interesting to note that the wheel is a darker shade of brown then the collumn, as is the upper dash pad....
partial steel.....
Hmm. No Astro Vents in the rear deck
My VIN is 1Z37J5S412882...
it ought to have the VIN derivative stamped on it if it's the original block..
Steering wheel and door panel swapped by a previous owner, although I don't understand why someone would want the Vega wheel.
'75s had fiberglass floorboards; '76s got partial steel. What are yours?
'75s had Astro-Ventilation; '76s did not. Do you have rear deck vents?
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2000
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From: Southbound
Cruise-In II Veteran
This is getting screwy. You have a '75 VIN, engine, and tranny. You have parts which were not available until the 76 model year.
What's the time/build date on the trim tag?
What's the time/build date on the trim tag?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,577
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From: Long Island New York
Originally Posted by KapsSA
Not sure but I thought that "Vega" wheel or one similar was used on other years with standard columns, but not on the tilt-tele columns.
This is correct, they used this wheel on 77's without the tilt-tele option.
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Team Owner
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From: Southbound
Cruise-In II Veteran
Originally Posted by BigE
I'm not sure how to decypher the trim tag yet but here is what it says:
CHEVROLET D29
TRIM 192 13L PAIN
Pain??? ha, they have no idea.....
CHEVROLET D29
TRIM 192 13L PAIN
Pain??? ha, they have no idea.....
D29 could also mean the same for the '76 models, except the fourth month of '76 production was November and November 29th was the Saturday following the Thanksgiving holidays. In all likelihood, the plant was closed on 11/29/75.
Trim 192 is black leather; 13L Paint is silver exterior paint (L for lower portion of the car, but Corvettes were not two-toned during this time).
I'd say she's a '75 built on 1/29/75. Can't explain the absence of rear vents or the steel floor pans.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 236
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From: Clearwater Florida
Originally Posted by okinawa86vette
I wonder if the birdcage was yanked out of another car...a '75. I know the trim plate is riveted to the birdcage. Is the windshield frame part of that?
Chris
Chris
I tend to agree with Chris.
Your 76 probably had a rotted winshield frame where the VIN tag is mounted and for some reason a bad motor and transmission. In fact the 76 could have been a wreck with no front clip and a bad motor and transmission.
Along comes a wrecked 75 with the original motor, transmission, a good windsheld frame, and a good trim tag.
They put the 75 motor and tranmsission in the 76, grafted in the 75 winshield frame, and pop riveted the 75 trim tag on.
Voila you have a 76 with 75 VIN, Trim Tag, Motor, and Transmission.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Oakdale Ct
Sell it???????
It will be sold as part of my estate sale after I am DEAD.. So my wife will have to answer the questions!
I can see the E-bay listing now.......
Seriously though, The big swap theory is interesting, but I noticed no rust in the kick pannels when taking out the #2 body mount bolts... If there was a rotted windshield frame in this cars past, surely I would have seen evidence of it in this area, right? I have most of the paint off and I cant see any evidence of repair work either. Oh well, this car wont be original when I am done anyway. I sure am curious nonetheless.
I can see the E-bay listing now.......
Seriously though, The big swap theory is interesting, but I noticed no rust in the kick pannels when taking out the #2 body mount bolts... If there was a rotted windshield frame in this cars past, surely I would have seen evidence of it in this area, right? I have most of the paint off and I cant see any evidence of repair work either. Oh well, this car wont be original when I am done anyway. I sure am curious nonetheless.
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: Wallaceburg Ontario
What does the 'corvette' emblem look like on the rear bumper cover? I'm talking about the WORD Corvette, not the cross-flag logo on the gas lid. 1975 was the last year for the eight individual upper-case letters that looked sorta like this:
C O R V E T T E
In '76, they replaced these eight seperate letters with one plate with lower case letters crammed closer together, sorta like this;
corvette
It's possible to replace one with the other, but it might at least give you a hint as to the true age of your car.
- Chilli
C O R V E T T E
In '76, they replaced these eight seperate letters with one plate with lower case letters crammed closer together, sorta like this;
corvette
It's possible to replace one with the other, but it might at least give you a hint as to the true age of your car.
- Chilli
